


At the End of Our Time

by bookwormally



Series: Fortune Favors the Brave [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim, M/M, No Character Death, VanVen Week (Kingdom Hearts), VanVen Week 2020, its my version of PacRim and I do what I want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:46:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28208529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwormally/pseuds/bookwormally
Summary: In 2013, an inter-dimensional rift opened at the bottom of the ocean. Monsters crawled out and humanity discovered the best way to stop them was to make monsters of their own. Jaeger versus Kaiju, it was a time for heroes.The pilots of Wayward Soul, Ventus Verville and Vanitas Jourdain, have quite the partnership. There's never been a pair of Jaeger pilots quite like them. Explosive, argumentative, and somehow still full of trust, they drift together and reach a greater understanding of one another.A series of disjointed oneshots about Ventus and Vanitas in my PacRim AU for VanVen Week 2020
Relationships: Vanitas/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Fortune Favors the Brave [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066316
Comments: 26
Kudos: 42





	1. Day 1: Proposal | Warmth | Union

**Author's Note:**

> Q: Why?  
> A: Because it's my favorite movie of all time and I cannot be stopped.
> 
> Q: Do I need to read the other fic to understand this one?  
> A: Not at all! Hell, you barely need to know Pacific Rim to read this. That said, ask me any questions you have in the comments! (and if you wanna read the other one, it's arguably some of my best writing ;D)
> 
> Enjoy!

**Proposal** **|** ~~Warmth~~ **| Union**

If asked to explain, Ventus Verville would say that he was only able to drift with Vanitas _goddamn_ Jourdain because they both had complete trust in how much they hated each other. They were evenly matched as they tried to best the other in staff combat - both of them hitting the mats with slaps that hurt. They never spent time together out of the training room, only trading faces or rude gestures while passing each other in the halls. But they were like magnets in training. No matter what, they knew they could match each other.

Still, Ven never would have seen it coming.

“Recruits, line up!” Their training master has a voice like granite and arms like a blacksmith from the middle ages. Ven has no interest in disobeying them. He’s second in line, fresh off the treadmill, and can’t help but grin at Vanitas when he stops beside him. Vanitas rolls his eyes, but his posture is better than Ven’s, arms at his sides.

Their training master waits for the six of them to be in line then clears their throat. The clipboard in their hand has only a few fluttering pages on it, but they flip through them twice before looking up again. Ven’s stomach flips over several times.

“You all recall the most recent assessment tests. You all performed as expected, but two of you have shown enough promise to be promoted.” The training master’s voice is flat and their gaze doesn’t flick to anyone in particular. 

Ven is ready to vibrate out of his skin.  _ Please be me, please be me. _ He doesn’t have any particular connection to any of the other recruits, but a promotion means active ranger training - it means drifting and finding that connection with someone. He’ll finally be close to Aqua and Terra again, finally doing something real to stop the Kaiju.

“Jourdain.” Vanitas stiffens even further somehow and then steps forward, but their training master glances down at their papers again. Ven barely stops from pulling a face. Of course Vanitas is getting promoted despite his awful attitude - he might be the worst, but he’s also the best fighter in their group. Or at least matched wit-

“Verville.” Ven twitches, not quite jumping, and takes a step forward out of line. He  _ is _ the best fighter after Vanitas, but that can’t mean what he thinks it means.

Their training master’s dark brown eyes almost look amused. “The two of you are being promoted to rangers in training. You will be partners, you will drift together. If you have the same aptitude as your scores suggest, you will serve the world well.” They look between them and their smile is sharp. “Now shake nice on it.”

Ven turns just enough to offer Vanitas a hand.  _ Partners with Vanitas. There’s no way this is going to work. _ He grimaces as Vanitas takes his hand harder than necessary and they exchange the shortest jerk of a handshake ever.

“Partners,” Vanitas says, not quite a growl, and there’s a weird look in his eyes.

“Partners,” Ven echoes.

There’s no way this doesn’t end in one of them literally losing their mind.

* * *

Staring down the drift simulator feels like facing down the barrel of a shotgun. Logically, Ven knows that fail-safes of all kinds have been put into the simulator. They no longer shove new partners into an actual Jaeger for the first drift - there are no weapon systems in the simulator and it’s been used for a couple years. They’d know if it somehow let someone eat someone else’s mind.

But Vanitas is unlike any other person Ven has known. He never seems to know when to stop and if they’re touching their minds together through their memories… Ven shudders. Is it any wonder he couldn’t sleep last night? He glances to his right.

Vanitas is tugging at his gloves and the cuffs of the suits they’ve been given for the simulator. He mutters something in French and tosses his arms down at his sides, his hands half-curled into fists. There are dark circles under his eyes, but Vanitas  _ always _ looks like he hasn’t slept for a week. He looks basically the same as normal.

Ven looks at the simulator again. “I’m gonna kick your memory’s ass,” he mutters.

“You wish,” Vanitas mutters back. 

“Verville, Jourdain, get to it. The Breach isn’t closing up while you two make your minds pretty for each other.” Senior Ranger Dilan Umoya is overseeing them since  _ Stalwart Tempest _ is based in their Shatterdome currently. Aqua and Terra were sent to Hong Kong and Ven really, really hopes to follow. Right now, he nods quickly to Ranger Umoya and steps into his place on the left side of the simulator. The doors shut behind them, locking them in the pod and away from the rest of the room.  


He knows that he and Vanitas are both ambidextrous, that neither of them has a weak arm or leg on either side. They can take either half of the Jaeger controls, but there’s something settling about having Vanitas on his right. Vanitas doesn’t argue it, didn’t argue it when Ven stopped at his left, and they both shift in their places as the electronics and machinery move around them.  


There’s a little spark as the simulator connector plug finds its place at the base of his neck, matching with his suit. Ven shivers and glances at Vanitas again. Vanitas has his hands curled into fists and his jaw is tense. His eyes flick to Ven’s and narrow slightly. “Are you going to back out, Ventus?”

“Never.” Ven takes a breath. “Whatever you’ve got, I can handle.”

“Beginning drift simulation in three, two…”

Vanitas grins suddenly. “We’ll see.”

“One.”

**_[Neural Handshake Initiated]_ **

_ The house is huge and empty and spiders make fancy webs in the corners that do more to decorate the rooms than anything else. Ven watches them sometimes, but never up close. He has nightmares about something like a spider crawling all over his body. His grandfather tells him to stop being scared of the dark, that good things come out at night. Ven agrees, sometimes, but only on nights where he can see all the stars through his window.  
_

_ The old man found him on the street and promised him food and shelter from the snow. Vanitas isn’t sure why the old man offered. He never smiled, not like the others that sometimes gave him things for free. His eyes were hard gold, but he did give Vanitas food and didn’t kick him out. Vanitas follows him around the house and wonders what he  _ **_actually_ ** _ wants. _

_ Ven doesn’t know what a bully is until he’s in high school. Before that, even as odd as he was he had friends. But in high school, he’s on his own and if he has to hear Vanitas say one more thing about how Aqua and Terra are going to- _

_ “ **Tsunami** looks like a pile of trash. I bet it goes out and gets junked its first time.” _

_ It sparks something in his stomach when Ventus’s eyes light with anger. So maybe he pushed it too far this time - it still feels like a victory as the two of them wrestle on the ground, both of them throwing punches. By the time the teachers pull them apart, Vanitas’s lip is split and Ventus has a black eye and is holding his hand like he broke a couple fingers. His eyes burn with fire as he continues to glare at Vanitas. _

_ Vanitas licks some of the blood off his lip and grins. Ventus has never hated anyone so much in his life. _

_ The old man finally shows his hand. He pushes Vanitas into the Jaeger program, tells him to prove his worth, and then...then he dies before Vanitas can show him that he was worth it. He doesn’t know how to feel about it. The old man never really cared about him, didn’t  _ **_love_ ** _ him, but he was there. Whatever. He can show Ventus up instead. _

_ Their staffs clack together in perfect rhythm. It’s like they were born knowing this dance, knowing how to catch, release, block, and parry in perfect time. When Ventus swings, Vanitas blocks, and round and round they go. It doesn’t require thought, only understanding, and there’s no one they understand better than each other.  _

Ventus is thrust back into his body and he gasps. It feels like he’s run a mile all in his head. He puts a hand to his chest and his heart is beating so fast. He saw Vanitas’s memories, felt Vanitas’s feelings…

_ He can still feel Vanitas’s mind. _

Ven looks to his right, ignoring the simulator as it reads out numbers and instructions on how to proceed. Vanitas is already looking at him, touching his lower lip with his thumb. He smirks when Ventus looks at him.  _ He wants to get a rise out of you. No, he wants your attention. _ Ven exhales in a rush. 

Vanitas drops his hand and then lifts the left one. They’re not in their Jaeger yet, not really synced through the body of a giant machine, but Ven can feel it. He lifts his left hand with Vanitas and then they flip each other off.

“Partners,” Vanitas says, and this time Ven understands the light in his eyes for what it is.

“Partners,” Ven agrees. He gets it now. He’s been hungry for someone to be at his side too.

* * *

They don’t get to name the Jaeger they’re given. Resources and funding are drying up, leaving the whole world at risk. Vanitas complains about getting something old and dangerous, but when they drift in  _ Wayward Soul _ something fits perfectly. To make her truly theirs, they get the paint team to add a wing to each shoulder - one white, one black.

Wait until the Kaiju see them  _ fly. _


	2. Day 2: First kiss | Past lives | Parallel

~~First kiss~~ **| Past lives | Parallel**

When they return to their rooms from a session with  _ Wayward Soul,  _ Ventus is weirdly quiet. He follows Vanitas into his room, picking up the tablet he left there before they went to training. Frowning, he starts to tap at the screen. Vanitas leaves him to it, interested only in scrubbing the smell of the drivesuit off of him. It might look like badass armor, but it makes him sweat like armor too.

However, Ventus is still squinting at his tablet when Vanitas gets back from the shower - and still sitting in his practice clothes. Vanitas debates his options for disrupting him and then tosses his towel over Ventus’s head. “Vanitas!” Ventus squawks like the towel was scalding coffee. He grabs the towel and throws it to the side. “I’m busy.”

“Busy stinking up the place. Go get clean, I want to eat.” Vanitas digs through his jewelry box until he finds the earrings he wants. He replaces the plain practice studs with gears that look jammed through his lobes - much cooler. He flicks the end of one and looks over his shoulder. Ven has hunched lower in the bed, frowning at the screen again. “This isn’t even your room,” Vanitas points out. “What are you doing?”

“Reading.” Ven scrolls a bit with his thumb and then bites that nail.  _ “Wayward _ had pilots before us, but I can’t really find anything specific.”

Vanitas slowly arches an eyebrow. Normally, Ventus bemoans reading PPDC records as dry and uninteresting those few times they’ve needed to read them. They have no assignment now that would require reading through the records, so Ventus is doing this because…? “Why do you care? It’s ours now.”

Green eyes peek over the top of Ven’s tablet, even wider than when he’s begging for extra dessert. “I think I hear them sometimes, whispering through  _ Wayward Soul.” _

“Really? You believe in computer ghosts now?” Vanitas rolls his eyes. “I’ll send you the records later, come on. I’m starving.”

“Then go eat. Why do you have the records?” Ven sets the tablet in his lap, scowling at Vanitas.

Vanitas is not going to explain that he can’t go eat, because if he goes and Ventus is distracted and  _ doesn’t _ eat then it’s on him when Ventus faints and eats the damn floor. He scoffs instead. “Because when I found out we were getting someone’s hand-me-downs, I requested them immediately. I wanted to know what they’d done to it.”

“Nerd,” Ventus says, his favorite insult whenever Vanitas demonstrates that he’s smarter than Ventus. “What were they like? What did they do?”

“I’ll  _ tell you _ if you go shower and come with me to dinner.” Vanitas turns away, hopefully before Ventus sees how that makes his face go red.  _ It’s the mess and dinner as rangers. _ Thankfully, Ventus continues to not notice and scrambles out of Vanitas’s room. Vanitas sighs as the door slams shut again and looks at his mirror. “Computer ghosts,” he says again, as if that’s the only thing on his mind. “The only things in there are the three of us.”

* * *

Ventus, patron saint of patience, grabs his arm the second Vanitas steps out into the hall. His hair is still dripping water, but he’s clean and in fresh clothes. “Tell me,” he demands. “How many rangers were there before us?”

“What, in the whole PPDC?” Vanitas asks dryly. “One other pair used  _ Wayward Soul _ before us, that’s it. It was in storage and repairs for a while after that, because they had all sorts of fancy funding to build newer ones instead. Be glad they put in the best radiation shielding they could before giving it to us or we’d be dead in ten years.”

“We could be dead whenever,” Ventus says with a dismissive wave of his hand. He’s let go of Vanitas now that they’re moving, and Vanitas is giving him what he wants. “So, one pair. What were they like?”

“People, soldiers, rangers.” Vanitas shrugs. “It’s only their PPDC records. One was some tiny spit of a kid who was barely an adult and the other was this ex-fighter pilot who got dishonorably discharged for disobeying orders during the first Kaiju attack on the American west coast.” Vanitas doesn’t blame them - he’d fly away from a fucking incoming nuke too. “They weren’t related, no idea how they ended up together.”

Ventus hums. “We’re not related either and  _ we’re _ partners.”

“Because we’re the only ones who can kick each other’s teeth in.” Vanitas shoves his hands in his pockets. “Happy?”

“No, I still want those records.” Ventus looks like he might grab for Vanitas again, but throws his hands forward instead. “Like, what happened to them?”

Ventus Verville is an idiot. Vanitas presses his lips together and stares at him. What happens to Jaeger pilots? What a stupid question. Ventus meets his gaze, grimaces and looks down. “Was it in combat?”

“It was. Radiation was killing the young one and he passed out mid-fight. The fighter pilot finished it, but had a stroke from the strain. It was a win, but they were both out of commission and dead within the year.” Vanitas shrugs. “They managed to take down four Kaiju before that - not bad for early rangers.”

“How awful.” Ventus shakes his head. “No wonder they still linger in  _ Wayward _ if that’s how it ended for them.”

“They are  _ not _ in our Jaeger.” Vanitas shoves his shoulder. “It’s a machine, not a haunted house.”

Ven staggers a step away and then back to Vanitas’s side. He blinks and his expression is oddly serious. “Is that what you think? You think  _ Wayward  _ is just a machine that we share our minds in? She’s the bridge, Vanitas.”

There are times where Ventus’s bright green eyes burn like fire, where they dance with joy or go steely with his determination. Now, they’re like a well stretching down into the earth. Vanitas doesn’t know how far Ventus sees, how deeply under Vanitas’s skin he can peer. He looks away. “It’s all technology, Ventus. Whatever you’re hearing is in your head.”

“Oh, your voice is just in my head? Cool, hopefully I can make it stop with my meds.” Ventus elbows him and takes the lead. Vanitas grumbles and hurries after him. They’re practically to the mess by the time he reaches Ventus’s side again.

Ventus doesn’t turn to look at him as he says, “We should sneak into the hangar sometime, so you can really listen. I know you think of  _ Soul _ as our third.”

“Fuck off. There are better things to sneak around and do than listen to our Jaeger creak around us.” Vanitas shoves his hands back in his pockets. If they’re going to sneak into the hangar and sit up on their own though… “But fine, if you insist.  _ If _ you manage to stay awake long enough for most people to be asleep.”

“Oh I will! I’ll stay awake just to spite you!” Ven turns and blows a raspberry at him, then races into the mess. 

Vanitas rolls his eyes and follows. There’s no way any piece of the old pilots linger in  _ Wayward Soul. _ And even if they did, Vanitas has better voices to listen to in his head. 

Sometimes, he can hear Ventus’s laugh in the middle of battle - a laugh just for  _ them. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I'm absolute Team There is Something More to the Jaegers (And Other Rangers' Memories Linger in Them) but I LOVE that shit. Machinery that has a pseudo-consciousness is just so fascinating to consider.


	3. Day 3: Confession | Promise | Prince of Heart

**Confession** **| Promise |** ~~Prince of Heart~~

Each ranger has their own room, but  _ every _ ranger knows that the beds in the Shatterdome can fit two if you squeeze in close. For those prone to nightmares or bothered by the emptiness of a windowless room, there’s always the option to slip into a partner’s bed and face the rest of the night that way.

Ven has nightmares about the past, the future, and the stupid things his mind likes to cook up in the dark. He’s slipped into Terra’s room more nights than he can count to have someone else tell him that everything is as okay as it can be - that they’re fighting to make things really okay and they’ll win some day soon. Sometimes Aqua is already there, the two of them sitting up with tea and talking quietly. It always helps. But sometimes Aqua and Terra aren’t the ones who can assuage his fears.

It took him a long time to work up the courage to dart across the hall to Vanitas’s room the first time. He stared at the door, his heart pounding in his ears until he heard a noise from the other side. An awake Vanitas was infinitely less scary than waking him up, or being ignored because Vanitas refused to get out of bed. And there had been a lot of grumbling from Vanitas, but he had let Ven in and they’d bickered about it until they were actually talking.

Ven has never actually told Vanitas why he comes over some nights. There’s never a right moment to mention it, and he doesn’t want to hear Vanitas mock him for it either. But there has to be a time eventually when it’ll seem right. There has to be. Maybe then he’ll finally stop dreaming about turning to his right and seeing nothing but a void in the other half of  _ Wayward Soul. _

When the war with the Kaiju is racing towards its end, when they’re putting together a plan to actually close the Breach, when Axel Avery comes back, everything moves very, very quickly. Except at night. Somehow the dark hours are still a time where they’re told to rest, to breathe. It's kind of ridiculous, but Ven is glad for the time to hide from everything else. Too bad his dreams don’t let him hide and he drags himself out of bed at three am to creep across the hall.

He doesn’t hesitate now, knocking quietly and glancing over his shoulder to make sure the noise doesn’t echo to anyone else’s door. Vanitas’s door is quiet and opens quick enough that Ven has to wonder if he was sitting near it, but he doesn’t ask as he slips in. Vanitas shuts it with a shove, clearly uncaring about anyone else who might hear. He shoots Ven a look and moves to the small desk he has piled with books.

Ven drops onto Vanitas’s bed with a sigh, staring up at his ceiling. “Do you ever sleep?”

“Do you?” Vanitas fires back. He shuffles things around on his desk, sending pages flipping and letting covers smack together. “You should be sleeping. There’s an attack tomorrow and we’ll be out there.”

“I know, Vanitas.” Ven frowns at the ceiling and then closes his eyes. “Why do you think I can’t sleep?”

“Still scared of the monsters, Ventus? How many do we have to kill before you relax?”

Ven squeezes the blanket beneath him. “The last one.”

Vanitas huffs a laugh. “I suppose that’s  _ logical. _ We’re close to it now. That or everyone dying, so we’re done either way.”

“Aren’t you scared?” Ven knows it’s almost pointless to ask. Vanitas has never ever been scared of a physical fight. He tips his head to look at Vanitas, still standing at the desk. “Aren’t you scared of...failing?”

For a long moment, Vanitas is still and silent. Then he shrugs. “If I fail, I’m dead. It’s not like I’ll have to see what happens after.”

“I guess.” Ven keeps watching him. It doesn’t seem like Vanitas is actually doing anything. He’s just moving things around, flipping through a few pages of another book before he sets it aside again. “Hey, come here.”

“My room is my room, not your room to order me around in.” Vanitas does look over his shoulder. “Why.”

“Because I want to talk to you without shouting.”

Vanitas rolls his eyes. “It’s a tiny fucking room. You’re not shouting.” But he stops messing with things and comes over to the bed. He sets down beside Ven, the mattress sinking slightly with his weight. “What, Ventus?”

Ven fiddles with the blanket, pinching it into little folds. “Do you think we can win?”

“Have we ever lost?” Vanitas pokes him in the shoulder. “There are too many of us to lose. They’ll figure out whatever it is that’ll close that thing and then we’ll be done. You’ll finally be free of me.” His smirk is pointed, a flash of his teeth, and Ven’s stomach  _ drops. _

“I don’t want that!” The words burst out of him and he sits up straight, knocking their knees together. Vanitas arches an eyebrow, disbelief written all over his face. Ven shakes his head. “I don’t! I know we used to hate each other, but we’re partners. We can’t, you can’t really think that means I want to just leave you.”

“ _ I _ still hate you, for the record,” Vanitas says because he’s contrary and annoying. “Maybe I want to get away from you for a bit.” He looks away, over toward the desk.

No way.  _ No way. _ Ven grabs his hand. “Are you serious? When it’s over you want to leave?” How can he just want to  _ leave? _ They’re partners; they’ve shared their memories and their thoughts and things that no one else will ever know. And Vanitas wants it to end with the war? The very thought makes Ven want to cry from anger and more sadness than he ever expected. Doesn’t Vanitas understand  _ anything? _

“Stop  _ being _ so serious.” Vanitas doesn’t pull his hand away. “I don’t know what I’ll do after the war. I was being practical - I assumed I’d get killed in action at some point like most rangers.”

“You’re such a pessimist.”

“A realist,” Vanitas corrects. 

Ven squeezes his hand and leans in to press their shoulders together. “Whichever. What’s important is that we’re going to win, we’re going to live, and then we’re going to do something else. And the  _ really _ important thing is that we’re going to do it together.” He takes a breath, feeling the strange openness that always comes at late hours. “Promise me, Vanitas. Promise me that when it’s over, we’ll still be partners and we’ll figure out what to do together.”

Vanitas’s fingers are loose in his grip, but his gaze is intense. Vanitas never simply _ looks _ \- it always seems like he’s studying whatever holds his focus. The only break anyone ever gets is when he wears his sunglasses, hiding his eyes entirely. Ven meets them, stares Vanitas down with the determination that steels his heart every time they face down a Kaiju. They are together in that and they’ll be together  _ after _ that.

“I promise.” Vanitas squeezes Ven’s hand back, his tone strangely soft. “Since you won’t leave me alone otherwise.” Normally, it’d be a condemnation, but Vanitas doesn’t give it an edge this time. He looks down at their hands as Ventus breaks into a bright smile.

“Definitely not! We’re partners!” Ven almost slumps into Vanitas’s shoulder; he's so relieved. Good, good.  _ Neither of us will be on our own.  _ Maybe now he can sleep.

Fingers brush his cheek and he’s brought crashing back to the moment he somehow flew away from in those brief seconds. Ven blinks and Vanitas pushes a few pieces of his hair away from his face. They’re close, so close, and he-.

Vanitas cups his face and his voice is barely louder than a whisper. “What does partners mean, Ventus?”

What does it mean? Does Vanitas want the dictionary definition? He probably has it memorized since he reads so much. Is this really how he’d ask? Ven takes a breath that shudders. “A partner,” he says slowly, “is someone who’s there for you. They stand at your side and face life together. They…” He feels shaky. They’ve never talked about this, about the things that flicker between them sometimes in  _ Soul. _ But if he doesn’t say it, maybe he won’t get a chance. Tomorrow’s another day that could be their last. 

“They love each other,” he says so very, very softly.

Vanitas exhales and it’s as shaky as Ventus feels. “We’re partners.”

“Partners,” Ventus echoes. Vanitas is still cupping his face, but there’s something anxious in his eyes. Like with calling them ‘partners,’ Vanitas needs to know that Ventus is seeing things the same way as him. 

Ventus leans forward and presses their lips together. Vanitas kisses him back immediately, so much softer than any move they’ve made against each other before. It doesn’t last long, both of them pulling back enough to breathe as their noses brush together.

“We’ll win,” Vanitas whispers. “We’re going to win.”

Ven lets his eyes drop close, focused on the warmth of their hands still wrapped together and the way their foreheads rest against each other. “We’re going to live.”

They’re going to, because Ventus won’t give up a living his life with Vanitas at his side.


	4. Day 4: Teaming up | Memories | High School

**Teaming up | Memories** **|** ~~High School~~

**_[Neural Handshake Initiated]_ **

_Ventus is crying in the fucking bathroom. It’s loud enough to carry and Vanitas really wishes he’d find a better hiding spot. They’re at school, anyone can walk in and he did. Sure, he was looking for Ventus because he saw that head of blond hair go dashing past the classroom door, but anyone could come in and hear him falling apart. With a sigh, Vanitas steps back and lets the door close. He_ **_guesses_ ** _he’ll wai-._

_The news wasn’t even that bad, but there was something awful about seeing the Jaeger ripped to pieces, about imagining it being Aqua and Terra who were next under the Kaiju claws. His stomach had rebelled and he quickly excused himself to the bathroom. He didn’t mean to start crying, but he had until he had wrung himself out. He’s still sniffing as he pushes the door open._

_“Finally.”_

_Vanitas is leaning against the wall outside the bathroom. He barely looks at Ven as he shoulders past him and into the bathroom. What the fuck was that about? Ven glares at the door, but he’s not fighting Vanitas in the bathroom when he already feels like crap. It’s weird though that he wai-._

“-t for it. Wait for it.” Vanitas is breathing so hard that it’s almost impossible to understand him. Only the echo of the order floating through their thoughts makes it clear. Ven tightens his fists, but waits.

The Kaiju shrieks at them, blood sizzling against the one sword they’ve managed to stab through its side. Like a ticking clock, their heat meter is rising toward the red. They have thirty seconds before _Wayward Soul_ entirely shuts down to save her reactor. Damn this slippery eel Kaiju that keeps wiggling free!

They have to win. They have to do this or millions of people could die.

_They won’t let that happen. Never again._

It lunges at them, but Ven feels the flickering of an idea. Maybe it’s his, maybe it’s Vanitas, but it’s there for both of them. They just have to time it perfectly. They wait, their gasps for breath quieting as they sync, and the tail of the Kaiju wraps around their leg. It’s going to pull them off-balance and down into the water. Command is shouting warnings, but they grin. Three heartbeats pass and then-!

“Now!” They lift their arm, sizzling blade held tight in their grip, and then spear the Kaiju right through the head before it can free itself.

“Fuck yeah!” It screams in both of their voices and for two beats of their hearts, they see through three sets of eyes.

“Emergency shutdown now!”

 _Why? We won._ Their eyes find the screens again just in time to see the drift percentage hit 115%. Then everything goes dark.

**_[Emergency Shutdown Complete. Neural Handshake Disengaged.]_ **

He has a pounding headache when he finally wakes up again. He groans and doesn’t dare open his eyes. No matter the light level, it’ll stab into his head and make everything hurt worse. A voice says something, but he refuses to focus on it. Everything in his skull aches and all he wants is the peaceful darkness of unconsciousness again.

_But wasn’t something important happening? Weren’t you fighting?_

His eyes snap open again. The Kaiju - what happened?

Several things beep around him which does not help his headache (if something so painful can be called that), but he ignores it, trying to find someone to give him actual work of what happened.

The room he’s in is very white, strange, but only a few lights are on. Is it late, early? Where is he, what time is it? The bed creaks under him and there are machines here, several of them trailing wires that lead to him. He grabs one that’s beeping along with his heart. _Maybe you should scream?_ That gets peoples’ attention.

“Wait a moment! Lie back down.” Someone has snuck up on him, their hand pressing on his shoulder. He turns to look and he recognizes the doctor. Dr. Iskald presses at his shoulder again and he releases the wire and lies back on the bed again.

“What happened to the Kaiju? Didn’t we kill it?” This is the most important thing. They had to get it right, they had to kill it. They must have if he’s here.

Dr. Iskald frowns at him. “Of course it’s dead. You two went far further than you should have, but we’re glad for the end of that Kaiju. It was troublesome.” He turns to one of the machines nearby and taps a button. “How are you feeling, V-.”

The name doesn’t make sense. _Yes it does. That’s your name._ It’s not his name. It’s not. He’s-. _Are you? Why don’t you know for sure? Shouldn’t you remember?_ But he remembers both of them, things they both know and haven’t told anyone. Who is he? He needs, he needs to know!

He doesn’t remember digging a hand into his face or starting to hyperventilate. _Who are you? Who_ **_are_ ** _you? Whoareyou?_ He doesn’t know!

“Ventus Verville!” Dr. Iskald has his shoulders suddenly and is staring into his eyes. “Ventus, breathe with me.” He inhales through his nose, slowly, and it’s something to hold onto.

He draws in a breath, not very deep or very slow, but it’s no longer the desperate gasping it was before. Dr. Iskald nods and exhales and he follows along. After a few breaths, the shakiness in his head lessens and he can almost think again. He eases the grip on his face, feeling the sting where he came close to breaking skin.

“Very good, Ventus. Very good.” Dr. Iskald squeezes his shoulders. “We were concerned there would be side-effects from what happened, but there really was no way to prepare. Are you alright to talk with me?”

Is he? Maybe. He’d like to know what’s going on in his head and the doctor usually knows more about brains than any one person should. He dips his chin into a nod. “I...I don’t know…”

Dr. Iskald’s hands move to his and he squeezes them. He’d like someone else to do it… Where is everyone? Shouldn’t they be here to check on him? Dr. Iskald waits and then nods when he doesn’t keep talking. “I’m sure it’s all very confusing. However, you are Ventus Verville. Your drift partner, Vanitas Jourdain, is also fine and recovering. Out of excess concern, we put you into separate rooms until we could speak with each of you.”

The doctor takes a seat on the bed still holding his hands. They’re warm if not the ones he wants. The things Dr. Iskald is saying make sense and he tries to let them settle in his mind. If he is Ventus, then… “Why do I have Vanitas’s memories? It doesn’t...it doesn’t feel like the drift normally does.”

“I suppose it wouldn’t. During your last encounter, something happened. We’re not sure what, the readouts weren’t clear, but you and your partner reached a state of sync that went beyond the normal. We believe your consciousnesses overlapped.” Dr. Iskald tips his head slightly. “So, perhaps the memories feel more like yours than normal. Does that make sense?”

Maybe? But there are safety measures in place. No drift partners should ever be able to _do_ that. He doesn’t have the words to argue though and nods to Dr. Iskald. The doctor pats his hands. “Good. Would it help to see your friends? I believe Rangers Lai and Bose are ready to rip the door off its hinges if I keep them out much longer.”

 _Aqua, Terra._ Ventus nods. “Please.” If they’re waiting, then he _must_ be Ventus. They’re his friends, they know him. “But Vanitas...he’s okay?”

“Yes, you are both physically stable. So long as you find yourself ready after seeing your friends, I will arrange for you to see one another next. Barring any complications on Ranger Jourdain’s part.” Dr. Iskald stands again, rubbing his back with a hand. “But I think you’ll both be fine.”

They will, they have to be. But maybe things will feel less...intense the more he wakes up. Ventus nods again. “Thank you, Dr. Iskald.”

The doctor nods and goes to open the door. He leans out, speaking to someone, and then steps aside. Terra’s the first through, but only just. Aqua passes him once she’s made it through the door, but their arms wrap around him at the same time. Ventus grabs hold and remembers these embraces from a hundred different times before.

Yes, he’s Ventus Verville. But he’s holding onto more of Vanitas Jourdain than he was before.

* * *

When he wakes, nothing really makes sense. He’s no one, he’s someone else, he’s himself. It takes a while to settle again and Vanitas probably would still be floating between his memories and Ventus’s if it wasn’t for Ansem lounging in the chair beside his bed and talking and _talking._ Why the hell does Ansem know so much about his life? Why does a man like him have a practically photographic memory?

He finally hits his limit when Ansem starts talking about _Wayward Soul._ “They’re running a million scans through its systems, but I doubt they’ll find anything. You two tripped right into this and I doubt the code will tell anybody why.”

“Does she still work? Are we still pilots?” Vanitas has to ask. He turns the mirror Ansem gave him over in his hands. His face looks back and that makes sense more than it doesn’t. _His eyes are almost-red, but he’s stared into green many times before._

Ansem blinks at him. (His eyes are bright honey brown.) “Why wouldn’t you still be a ranger? You’ll both be tested and probably put on the back burner for the next one, but we’re in short supply of rangers, kiddo. We’re not kicking anyone out. I think they were going to ask you two whether or not you’d step foot in _Wayward_ again.”

Would he? Yes, of course he would. _Wayward Soul_ is part of his makeup, _his_ soul and memories. Maybe he and Ventus spilled into one another, but that just seems like a risk worth taking. If someone has to know him, if he has to hold someone else’s memories, it should be Ventus. They’re rangers, partners, the pilots of _Wayward Soul._ Vanitas nods. “Like I’d quit now.” It sounds braver than the quivering inside him makes him feel.

It at least makes Ansem chuckle.

The door opens and Iskald looks in. “Ventus wants to see you if you’re-.”

Vanitas throws the blankets off. He already peeled the censors and monitors from his skin once he understood he was himself again. Iskald huffs at him, but doesn’t stop him from climbing from his bed. “Fine then, come along, Ranger Jourdain.” Vanitas glances back at Ansem only to see him roll his eyes and smile. He stumbles a little, his body feeling...off, but he crosses the room and out into the hall without assistance.

Dr. Iskald gestures to the door that’s two down from his. “In there.”

He’s Vanitas, he knows that. But he needs to see Ventus for himself. It’ll make those last shivering pieces inside his head settle - he knows it will. Vanitas wrenches the door open. There are other people in the room, standing a bit away from the bed, but Ventus is right there. He’s sitting in the bed and the light really highlights that his hair is in need of a wash, but Vanitas doesn’t care.

Because he’s Ventus and Vanitas is his partner. He strides across the room and slams into the seat beside Ventus’s bed. They reach for each other at the same time, grabbing each other’s hands tightly. Ventus smiles at him tiredly and his eyes are green. (Vanitas’s are a brown that almost looks red in the orange lights of the Shatterdome.) They breathe, a beat off from each other, and Vanitas thumps their foreheads together.

“Ow,” Ventus mutters. “Could you not? My head is killing me.”

“Mine was killing me first,” says Vanitas because he’s the one who has to compete. He squeezes Ventus’s hand, a silent question.

Ventus squeezes back. 

**_[Neural Handshake Initiated]_ **

_Wayward Soul is a machine. They give her life, give her guidance. They are the ones who pilot her and kill monsters. But she is a part of their team. She gives them her strength, her weapons, her power. With her, they can slay Kaiju - they can help save humanity._

_Ven sits on the floor of her conn-pod and stares at the dark screens. They’re real pilots now. The next time the alarm sounds, they’ll be the ones who have to fight._

_Vanitas lingers in the entry port, leaning against the edge. He watches Ventus, studies the shape of Wayward Soul around them. This is it now. This is what they have._

_They take a breath and Soul almost breathes with them._

“Left hemisphere calibrated.”

“Right hemisphere calibrated.”

 _“Wayward Soul,_ you are cleared for launch.”

Ventus Verville, Vanitas Jourdain, and _Wayward Soul_ walk out into the ocean to fight another creature that has crawled from the depths. They go out to save the fucking world with only each other at their side. 

They share dreams, waking and in sleep, but their memories stay theirs. Neither of them say it, but the feeling of being one, with each other, with _Soul,_ was as exhilarating as it was terrifying. They hope it never happens again.

They know they’ll make it happen if it’s necessary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Iskald is Even btw. He's the head of the K-Science lab so sure, give him the almost mind-melded kids and he'll sort it out! (Even did indeed, sort it out).
> 
> Anyway! This was originally going to be about when Vanitas and Ventus met outside the Jaeger program but then the 'teaming up' part of the prompt and the Kip who lives in my head were like "hey, but what if you did something you only sort of mentioned in your outline notes for the main fic re:VanVen" and it was all a race to the end from there!
> 
> I love writing this stuff.


	5. Day 5: Dream | Stars | AUs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This auto-qualifies as an AU, ha ha! Also this is a follow-up to day 3 that I meant to make more of a conversation, but I liked the quiet setting here better. Enjoy!

**Dream |** ~~ Stars  ~~ **| AUs**

The beds of a Shatterdome aren’t made for two, but Ventus clings like a wet towel so they fit fine enough. Tangled together on Vanitas’s bed in the early hours of the morning, they don’t have to talk. Vanitas is pretty sure, actually, that Ventus has finally fallen asleep again. He does this, comes over after he wakes up from nightmares or restless thoughts, and then talks at Vanitas until he tires himself out enough to sleep again.

This time was better than most. Vanitas runs his fingers gently through Ventus’s hair, feeling the way the short pieces try to curl at the ends. If he let it get longer, would his hair turn into a mess of curly sheep wool? How much more of a mess could Ventus’s bedhead be? Vanitas huffs quietly. It’s not like he can talk. He uses a comb to keep his hair out of his face and nothing more.

Thinking about Ventus’s hair isn’t keeping him from thinking about kissing Ventus.

He doesn’t know where it came from. One moment, Ventus was demanding that he promise that they’d still be partners after the war, that they’d do whatever comes next together, and then the next… Vanitas had to know. He couldn’t be Ventus’s partner if he didn’t know what it really  _ meant. _

_ ‘They love each other.’ ...And then Ventus’s lips press against his. _

Vanitas inhales and it still shakes. Maybe he’s finally getting some sleep and this is all the dream. How long has he looked at Ventus and felt something squeeze its claws into his heart? It’s hard to say. He’s always been hungry for more. He closes his eyes and sighs.

“What’s that for?” Ventus’s voice is thick with sleep, but he shifts, moving his head so that he can look at Vanitas’s face.

“I’m tired and you’re crushing my lungs.” It’s too easy to jab at Ventus than admit to what he’s actually thinking.

“No, I’m not.” Ventus yawns and kicks a foot free of the blankets. “I can hear your thoughts going around and around.”

Vanitas tugs the tips of Ventus’s hair. “There’s no  _ Soul _ here to let you do that. Shut it.”

Ventus grumbles and swats Vanitas’s hand down so it’s no longer pulling. “But you are thinking too much. I don’t need  _ Soul _ to know that.” He drops his arm over Vanitas’s chest and arches an eyebrow. It’s not that effective with his cheek squished against Vanitas’s shoulder.

“It’s called being smart. You should try it sometime.” Vanitas smirks at him and fully deserves the kick in the ankle it gets him. “Relax, Ventus. Go back to sleep.”

That only gets a shake of Ventus’s head. “No. If you’re awake, I’ve got a question for you.”

“If it’s about going to get you something, the answer’s no. You’re crushing me.” Vanitas arches an eyebrow.

Ven yawns and then shifts his head again, bits of his hair brushing Vanitas’s face. “I was just...wondering. We met before the program, in school. And I was thinking...do you think we would have ever understood each other if we never entered the ranger program?”

“That’s…” Vanitas frowns. Would they have ever understood each other? What a weird question. “I don’t think so.” His hand moves to Ventus’s hair again. “You never would have stopped hating me without the drift.”

“You just said a little while ago that you still hate me.” Ven rolls his eyes, but they close as Vanitas continues to play with his hair. “I bet we would have if you stopped being an asshole. You got close sometimes.”

Vanitas scoffs. “Just because I didn’t baby you doesn’t make me an asshole.”

“You were definitely an asshole.” Ven kicks his ankle again. “You’re still an asshole, but a little bit less. You put all that energy into beating the crap out of the Kaiju.”

“Fighting giant monsters in a death battle is my venting of excess energy,” Vanitas drawls. ...Shit, it’s probably true. He snorts.

Ven grins, eyes still closed. “I was just thinking about school, you know. Like, if we hadn’t gone into the program and we were still around each other. I think, maybe, some things would have broken down between us anyway. Besides our noses.”

Vanitas bites back a laugh, not wanting to bounce Ventus off of him. “Why does it matter, Ventus? This is where we ended up. Who cares about some other future that won’t happen?”

“I do.” Ven’s arm, casually tossed over Vanitas’s chest, shifts slightly, his fingers grabbing hold of Vanitas’s shirt. “I don’t like the thought of never having this with you. Even if it was different, I’d want to know you, Vanitas.”

Those claws are back, digging into his heart until his whole chest aches. “Is this about after the war again?”

Ven’s chin dips slightly into a nod, his hair still curling around Vanitas’s fingers. “I want to think that we’d always be drawn together, no matter what. So...even if we have to, or choose to be apart for a bit afterward, we’ll come back together.”

“You’re such a stupid romantic.” Vanitas sighs and tugs at Ven’s hair until his head tips back and Vanitas can see all of his face again. Ven’s eyes open, but that’s not what this is about. Vanitas brushes a kiss to Ven’s forehead, his face burning, and then leans back. “Yes, whatever events take place on this damn rock, I’ll always consider you the most annoying idiot who shouldn’t be inflicted on other people.” His face is on fire and he can’t look at Ventus’s face.

Ventus’s arm squeezes him and he buries his face in Vanitas’s shoulder. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “We promised.”

Vanitas hums, much too embarrassed to endure saying more actual words, and shifts his head so his cheek can press to Ventus’s hair. Reality says that in actuality there’s no reason for them to be drawn together across a billion universes. So many factors easily change the outcomes, sending them across the world from each other, sending them to other people and other relationships.

But they get this one and Vanitas is not looking for another. If there wasn’t the Jaeger program, if there wasn’t the war, they wouldn’t be who they are. But, lying here with Ventus curled against him, the two of them struggling to sleep because of nightmares and the pressure of their reality bearing down on them, is the most Vanitas has ever felt settled in his skin.

He’ll never know the future, but he can keep his promise - for Ventus and for himself.


	6. Day 6: Home | Dream Dates | Redemption

**Home |** ~~Dream Dates~~ **|** ~~Redemption~~

“Turn off the clock.”

There was already shouting and screaming, but it reaches a deafening level as everyone in the Shatterdome looks up and watches the clock hit zero and stay there. Standing on  _ Wayward Soul’s _ shoulder, Ven and Vanitas look down at the crowd as everyone processes that they did it.

The Kaiju War is over. They’re free.

Ven flings himself at Vanitas, their drivesuits cracking together like a thunderclap. Vanitas hugs him back, ignoring the ache of their injuries from the last week of hell. They cling to each other as everyone in the Shatterdome, as everyone in the world screams their relief to the skies.

It turns into a party. Food and drinks are handed out to everyone, spilling out of the mess until you can’t turn down a hall without finding someone slumped against a wall with a smile on their face as you exchange nods. When the pilots who went down to the Breach itself make it back, the party finds even more energy. 

Ven remembers throwing himself at Terra for a hug and a quick congratulations before shoving him toward Aqua so he can go get something to eat. No ranger is free of injury, but there’s no one hurt too badly to have to miss the celebration. That said, Vanitas points out that Isa and Axel are around only long enough to accept a few congratulations and then they disappear. He says it with a smirk that makes Ven shove him. Asshole.

They stay together through the whole thing, always in sight of each other even if they cross a room to speak to different people. They don’t have to. There’s no emergency coming to bear down on them now. They can breathe. But they’ve been in it too long together to celebrate apart.

Things wind down eventually. No one in the Shatterdome has slept a night through in days and now that they can have more than naps, they take it gladly. Some collapse where they were just sitting and talking, most return to a room and a bed, if not precisely theirs.

Ven is exhausted down to his bones, but it’s not a bed that calls to him. For the first time since things ended, he leaves a room without Vanitas. He passes very few people as he follows the largest hallway in the Shatterdome. They’ve spent too many hours, too many days in the hangar to celebrate there. There’s also a distinct lack of comfortable places to sit. By the time he reaches the hangar, Ven is surprised to see the lights on.

The Jaegers are all in their bays, half of them still ripped up from their last engagement. The water is still dripping off of  _ Ethereal Superior _ and pooled on the ground. The Breach is closed now, it’s  _ gone _ and he never got to see it. Some part of him is sad about that, but the rest is glad. He asked Sora about it and Sora said it was the strangest energy he’d ever felt from anything. Ven has enough nightmares without dreaming of the hole the Kaiju crawled from.

He exhales as he walks slowly down the row, Jaegers towering on both sides.  _ Destiny’s Guard, Glorious Tsunami, End of Oblivion, Ethereal Superior, Heliacal Eclipse, _ and  _ Wayward Soul _ are sleeping like everyone else in the PPDC and they’ve earned their rest more than most. Where will the Jaegers go now? Their purpose is fulfilled. Ven doesn’t know and would prefer not to try and understand the property laws around giant robots made to fight monsters on an international scale. Who even knows what will happen to the PPDC now that the war is over.

The railing of the stairs up is rough under his hands, but Ven’s grip is light as he climbs. Light and shadows fall over him in turn as he follows the turns higher and higher. He reaches  _ Wayward Soul’s _ shoulder and takes a seat there for the second time today. The hangar below is empty now, not another person to be seen in this place that was once the heart of everything.

It feels wrong, it feels right, and Ven exhales.

Vanitas sits down beside him.

They don’t say anything - their hands find each other and their fingers intertwine. They sit on  _ Soul’s _ shoulder, far above the ground, and don’t say a damn word.

The war is over. It’s really, truly over and they’re still alive.

It’s impossible to judge how long they sit there, just the two of them and their Jaeger. It’s quiet except for their breathing and cold except for the grip they have on each other’s hands. There are many things spinning in Ven’s mind, but he doesn’t try to find the words to frame them. What is there to say now?

“What do you think they’ll do with her?” It’s Vanitas who breaks the quiet. His other hand brushes over the shoulder plate they’re sitting on, his gaze lifting to  _ Soul’s _ head beside them. Ven turns his head to look at her too.

_ Wayward Soul _ is dark, no power thrumming through her systems to make her engine run, to make her heart feel like it’s beating. They’re outside on her shoulder, not inside to give her the guidance she needs to move and live. She’s cold and dead, nothing more than a machine that’s been turned off. Her purpose is fulfilled.

Ven exhales quietly. “I don’t know. She’s ours, but...she’s not.”

“She’ll always be ours.” Vanitas’s fingers squeeze Ven’s tightly. Ven squeezes back.  _ She’s ours. _ Vanitas shakes his head. “They can’t use them against each other. I hate to say it, but I hope the PPDC can keep them until their weapon systems are removed.”

The very thought that the Jaegers could be used against each other in stupid human wars is chilling. Ven shivers and leans into Vanitas. “Let’s hope. I wish we could take her.”

Vanitas huffs what almost counts as a laugh. “Where would we put her?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we could just tour her around the world. Be rock stars.” Ven smiles into Vanitas’s shoulder. “We’d need to put a bed in her.”

“She’s not a car, Ventus, you disrespectful shit.” Vanitas shrugs, bumping Ventus up and down. 

Ven laughs quietly. “Oh come on, it’s not that she’s a vehicle we’d sleep in. She’s home.”

Vanitas is quiet for a long moment and then sighs. “How can you say that without a hint of irony?”

“You know it’s true.”

The hangar lights are on, but up on  _ Wayward Soul _ it feels as if they’re hidden in the shadows, hiding away from the rest of the world. Vanitas’s voice is so soft that the air almost swallows it.

“She is. She always will be.”

The Kaiju War is over. They won. Everyone gets to go home and live.

But this is all they’ve known for years - the looming threat has consumed their lives since they were children. How can they possibly go home when home has become  _ Wayward Soul _ and the places where they fit together?

Ven closes his eyes, Vanitas’s hand in his, and decides not to think about it yet. They still have tonight here with each other and  _ Soul. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dances around major spoilers for the main fic as I write the end of the war. I mean, the tags make it clear that everyone living is a given, but everything else 🤐


	7. Day 7: Fairytale | Gaming | Flowers | Free

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends vanven week 2020! I hope those of you who chose to read this very niche fic enjoyed it! It was great to get comments throughout the week as I posted and I will always look forward to more no matter how distant in the future.
> 
> Thanks for reading!!

~~Fairytale~~ **|** ~~Gaming~~ **| Flowers | Free**

A week after the Breach is shut, everyone gathers on the deck of the Shatterdome.  _ Everyone. _ Retired pilots, those who helped build Jaegers and their bays over a decade ago, every person who ever had a hand in the Jaeger program, in the PPDC arrives in Hong Kong for this. They dress in uniforms, in black, in white, in a rainbow of colors that turns the bleak metal deck of the Shatterdome into a brilliant celebration.

The sky is a bright, beautiful, clear blue. The water slaps against the dock, a few shades darker than the sky. It’s a perfect day to remember, to celebrate that they made it.

The official ranger uniform feels heavy today. Ventus hitches his shoulders, trying to make it settle better. It shifts, but still presses down on him. He sighs and slowly spins the flower in his hand. They almost never had to wear the official uniform, always focused more on the drivesuits and being ready to go out in their Jaegers.

Hell, the leather jackets some pairs had made were seen more than these uniforms. Ven frowns. “We should have gotten jackets.”

“I’m not some stupid cheerleader.” Vanitas is leaning on the rail right at the edge, his own flower cupped between his hands. “The jackets were stupid...are stupid.”

“I know for a fact that Ansem has at least one bedazzled leather jacket.” Ven arches an eyebrow at him.

“And he’s an idiot.” Vanitas continues looking out over the water. “Don’t tell Sora and his friends, but they had the better idea.”

“What? Painting  _ Destiny _ with their mark? We did that before them, Vanitas.  _ Soul’s _ wings, hello?” Ven kicks the lower part of the railing. They better start soon. He wants out of this uniform.

Vanitas tips his head enough to look at Ven with one bright eye. It’s good that the bruise around it is finally fading, hopefully the gash isn’t far behind. “You don’t know? They have those same paopus tattooed on them.”

Ven blinks. Sora has a tattoo. Sweet, ferocious Sora has a tattoo. He shakes his head slowly. “So jackets are cheesy, but the tattoos are cool?”

“Tattoos are always cool and you’ll note that they don’t show those off. It’s for them.” Vanitas looks back out over the water. 

“Your mental rules are weird,” Ven mutters and leans on the rail beside him. He tips his hand so the petals of their flowers brush together. “What’s yours?”

Vanitas looks down at the flower cupped in his hands. It’s a bright red flower with layers and layers of petals that are even thicker than a rose’s. “It’s a ranunculus. It’s not for anyone specific - I liked it. Yours?”

The white flower in Ven’s hand is streaked with small red stripes. He spins it again, blurring the colors together. “It’s an amaryllis according to Naminé. I thought it fit for today.” Not whatever meaning might have been assigned to it by people over time, but what Ven felt when he saw it. Remembrance for those lost and hope for the days ahead is what it seemed to say when he lifted it from the bucket.

He looks over his shoulder at the crowd. Everyone has a flower picked from the buckets or brought with them. They add to the colors, to the feeling of life packed onto the deck. They’re all here to remember, to send a message to whatever lies beyond life that those sacrifices are remembered and appreciated. They go on, but they do not forget the past.

“We’re ready to begin if everyone could come this way.” Marshal O’Donahue’s voice echoes over the water and back from the walls. He’s standing on the small stage that was erected so that everyone could see and hear the speakers today. Ranger Umoya and Doctor Iskald are standing to the side of the stage, both of them tall enough to be seen over most of the crowd. 

Ven looks at Vanitas. “Staying here?”

“I’m not a public speaker.” Vanitas lifts the ranunculus and breathes in its scent. “Let them talk to the cameras. I’m here for me.”

“They’re speaking for everyone who doesn’t,” Ven argues, but he resettles against the rail. It’s true that they’re not going to speak, that they’re here to be part of this as they were part of the war. The Marshal’s words for them have already really been said. He might as well sit through the ceremony with Vanitas instead of standing stiff in the crowd.

The waves and the wind fill his ears, his mind only half focused on the words coming from the speakers.

“-ould never have made it to this point without all of you here today, and those who cannot be here because they gave even their liv-.”

“We accomplished the impossible, but only because we refused to give u-.”

“-ur rangers, our mechanics and engineers, our coders, our scientists, we all worked as a team and it was only together that such a feat could have ever been achieved.”

“We will live to see another day, but only because of those who came before us. We celebrate, but we almost mourn and remember. We asked each of you to choose a flower - for a loved one, for a comrade lost, for yourselves. We ask you now to place them in the water, to let the ocean carry our well-wishes beyond this Shatterdome, so that all may know that we remember and thank every person that has fought to bring the Kaiju War to an end.”

Ven turns to face the water as Marshal O’Donahue’s voice turns everyone toward the open sea. Vanitas is already leaning over the rail, his fingers opening, and his ranunculus drops onto the water. It bobs on the surface, a bright red spot against the deep blue water. Ven holds his flower out, looking at the white and the red against the sky, and then he lets it go. The amaryllis is caught slightly by the wind, carried a bit further out before it touches the water.

More flowers are dropped or placed or tossed out into the water. Flowers of all colors and shapes float on the waves, turning the sea into another rainbow, a moving almost breathing being of petals and leaves. It’s beautiful, the flowers spreading on the water and rising and falling with the waves as more and more people add their memories to the display.

He was young when he joined the PPDC and he never really knew all the older pilots. They were here for these last awful days of the war, but he doesn’t know the struggle of years upon years against an endless powerful force. But here is the proof, the very image of all of those people who fought so hard to keep fighting, to never give up.

Ventus’s throat goes tight, his eyes hot with tears. He clenches a hand on the rails, trying to stop the shake starting to rattle through him. He didn’t think too much about it, about the legacy that he was stepping into when he entered the ranger program. He wanted to be a ranger, wanted to stand at Aqua and Terra’s sides again. But now he can see them all spread out before him, every life that touched his, even at a distance. He was a small part of something so huge and they’re finally done.

They won, not just for themselves, but for everyone.

Fingers take his and squeeze. It’s better than the cold metal rail and Ven squeezes back. Vanitas is still at his side, staring out at the ocean and all the flowers. He’s not a mess, not like Ven, but his eyes aren’t cold and distant either. They grip each other’s hands until their fingertips are white as Ven scrubs at his face. His chest is aching, but it’s a bittersweet thing. They lost a lot, but they’re still here.

There are so many people offering up their memories to the sea and the sky, their colors painting it into something entirely new. They’ll carry on, they’ll remember. They’ll live.

Ven exhales and the uniform no longer feels so heavy on his shoulders. It doesn’t matter that they were only here for the last leg - they were here, they helped. They did it.

A different weight drops onto his shoulder - Vanitas’s head rests there as he sighs. The people around them are moving away, toward the Shatterdome doors where refreshments and better places to talk and share memories await. But the two of them stay at the rail, looking out at the flowers.

They’ll come back every year for the anniversary to do the same.


End file.
